Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Technology Camp

In a discussion on my Classroom 2.0 page, a reader writes in agreeing with my view on a 'pre'-academic year tech camp:

The teachers assume the students know how to do this and know how to do that but in reality all they know is how to surf the internet, use MySpace and text in a language all their own. Unless they take a computer exploratory class or keyboarding class as an elective, they do not receive the training they need. The teachers don't always have the time to do the technology instruction, but have great ideas. What if they got the opportunity to attend a "camp" to learn the basics before school started?

We run an annual tech camp for Freshmen here at school. At its best, it serves two purposes: a) it introduces the students to all of the features available to them both in terms of how to use their tablet-PCs and how to access and evaluate the resources available both through our library's subscription services and on the Web. b) it gives the 9th graders a chance to 'own the building' for a couple of days before the upperclassmen arrive.

I personally see it as a valuable way to get to know new faces and get a lot of tech questions and problems out of the way before the academic year officially begins.

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TeachPaperless began in February 2009 as a blog detailing the experiences of one teacher in a paperless classroom. It has grown to be something much more than that. In January 2011, TeachPaperless became a collaboratively written blog dedicated to conversation and commentary about the intertwined worlds of digital technology, new media, and education.

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Photo Credit: MJ Wojewodzki; a portion of a painted wall in the Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii [2006]